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Emile finally broke through the forest and came to the edge of what must be New Bark. He had caught a ride on his father's private boat that his father was taking to Golden Rod city for a business meeting. Emile almost immediately regretted that decision, the ride had been tense the pair parted ways without a word.

Emile quickened his pace when a large building came into view. It must be Professor Gold's lab. He slipped through the door, his bare feet relishing in the cool tile. No one seemed to notice his presence as he meandered around. A few aides lounged by the computers, two others were getting lectured on basic battle mechanics and why sending out a pokemon who only knows splash is a pointless endeavor. Professor Gold himself was nowhere in sight.

A shelf of pokeballs caught his eye. Though he knew of them, this was his first time seeing one up close. They had little white buttons in the center, it must be how they open. Curious, he reached out and pressed one.The pokeball opened with a click and Emile was knocked off his feet as a pokemon materialized on his chest.

Emile took an immediate liking to the small red lizard. It looked like a baby dragon! He loved dragons and lizards, they were soo cool. The scars on the back of his neck were a testament to that. Emile pet the creature, who was startled at first but then began demanding more attention, on the head.

"Young man, what exactly are you doing in my lab?" an old man asked sternly.

"Um... I'm Emile, I was told to come here to get a pokemon." Emile said as he scrambled to get up right.

"Yes,yes. I am Professor Gold, come this way and do please refrain from touching anything else." said Professor Gold as he walked to the back of the lab."As for starters, we only have the traditon fire, water, grass types left."

"Can I have this guy?" Emile asked looking down at the little red pokemon following his steps.

"Charmander, a good choice. It will become a strong pokemon but you need to take special care of it." the professor replied. "Here is a pokedex, it gives the informantion on a pokemon."

He turned and swiftly stopped two aides placing a bet before leading Emile back to the door. "Do you know of Team Zeta?" he asked.

"Sorta" replied Emile, he heard a little about them over the radio.

"Team Zeta, is a powerful group determined to take over this region. The will use anything, people, pokemon to achieve this goal. When Iset on my own pokemon journey, I encountered and defeated a similar group called Team Rocket. Now I am collecting young trainers to do as I once did. Your mission, should you chose to accept it is to try and stop Team Zeta. Go on your journey, make friends, form alliances." Professor Gold said shooing him out the door.

The professor leaned against the door with a sigh, that was the last child and he was ready for a stiff drink. Now he only had his aides to deal with, the impertinent bastards.

Chapter 2

"Here you go, it's ready." Emile said as he plucked another berry to roast over Aiden's tail. Hal used to call him Aiden sometimes, said it meant little fire. The pair were nestled in a tree branch, enjoying a midday snack. They had been walking along route 29 all day and Emile's excited hadn't waned at all. He finally had a pokemon of his own. Aiden was perfect.

"Look a Pidegy." Emile said pointing to the bird pecking at a fallen berry at the base of the tree. "Aiden, why don't you attack it. Don't look at me like that, we can get the drop on it."

Aiden reluctently agreed, still not thinking this to be the greatest idea.

"Okay Dragon Pulse." Emile called out. A bright blue sphere hit the unsuspecting pokemon with a small explosion.

"Whoa, I think it's knocked out." He said as he and Aiden scrambled down to look at their work.

"Char, char!" Aiden squeaked

"What is it." Emile asked looking over in Aiden's direction. "Oh ****." The rest of pidgey's flock was staring at them and they did not look happy.

"Oh ****!" Emile exclaimed, picking up Aiden and taking off in a dead run; the bird pokemon not far behind. Spying an old house in the distance, he decided it was better than death overhead.

"Ow" Emile winced as one of the birds tore into his right shoulder. They weren't going to make it.

"Dragon pulse, dragon pulse, dragon pulse!!" He screamed, turning Aiden towards the flock. C'mon, they were so close. "Keep it up Aiden, we're almost there"

Emile burst through the door and slammed it behind him. He slid to the floor in relief. "We made it, we're safe" he said hugging Aiden tight.

Posts need more detail for sure. The first one was fine since it was just the intro post, although the description for Team Zeta could have definitely had some more to it. The first battle didn't really describe anything. All I got out of it was what a Dragon Pulse looked like. And Charmander is level 5. It's not knocking anything out in one shot. Be sure to look at some other people's post to get a feeling of what I'm going for.

The Pokéball shook a few times, but Gastly broke back out again! It seems to be charging at Aiden for another Lick attack! Do you want to engage it in battle again or flee?

If you want to catch something you'll have to strive for some more length and detail than that =x Also there's needs to be continuity between your posts. How did you get to the house? Describe what you're character sees around you, how he feels, etc. I know your newly back to RPing which is why I'm definitely giving you the second chance to try again, but just know at some point they'll stop coming.

King and Hugh continued on Route 29, after fighting that Ghastly in the abandoned house. They were glad that they got out of there. King was getting bored and anxious for a battle with a trainer. After a little walking from the abandoned house, King saw a young boy who looked obviously wealthy. The boy was staring down Hugh. King stopped and said to the boy."Either speak up, or continue on your way, but either way, you already have piss me off..."
The boy replied in a snobby voice,"How did you get such a rare pokemon like Riolu? How much money did you pay to get him?""..... Are you that spoiled?"
The boy was furious when he said that.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!!"
"Huh.... Are you hard of hearing to?"The boy remained silent at first, then he calmed down and said,"How much do you want for that Riolu?"
"Nothing.... he is not for sale...."The boy was furious at this point."Everything has a price. Now name it!"King turned around, starting to get furious.
"If you were wise, you will stop talking, turn around, and leave now..."
"OK then, why don't we battle. If I win, I get your Riolu."King sighed. He was furious, but getting angry wasn't the answer, "Besides, this could be a good chance to try out Hoothoot." King thought to himself.
"Ok kid, I'll battle you. But I'm not going to use Riolu."
"Oh, really, then what are you going to use then cause I'm using this-"

The boy threw out a pokeball. The white light came out as a blob, but then began to form into the shape of a bird, but it wasn't like Hoothoot though.
"PID PIDGEY!!" The bird screeched.
King took out his pokedex to see what this pokemon was."Pidgey: The tiny bird pokemon. It usually hides in tall grass. Because it dislikes fighting, it will usually kick up sand to defend itself.""So, he is using a normal-flying pokemon as well huh? OK its time to fight Hoothoot.""OK Hoothoot, Lets rock!" King yelled while throwing out a pokeball.
The pokeball opened and within it... the Hoothoot that gave King a lot of trouble.
The white light finally formed into a Hoothoot, and its eyes finally opened.
"HOOT HOOT!!!!" The pokemon cried angrily. Hoothoot looked around, wondering where it was, then it saw the Pidgey, and Hoothoot looked mad.
"OK Hoothoot use Tackle!"The Hoothoot began to charge at the pidgey.
"Pidgey you use tackle to!"Pidgey began to charge at the Hoothoot.

The two collided. Both birds flew back to their corners."Pidgey use tackle again and again!!!!!"The pidgey began to charge once again."This will be easy... Hoothoot... Growl..."
"HoootHoooooot......"Hoothoot began to growl at the Pidgey, and Pidgey began to look a bit scared.
The boy became frustrated."Pidgey hurry up and use Tackle. I have Riolu to win!!!!"
"You are funny kid, cause your not going to win... Hoothoot use tackle now!Hoothoot began to charge at the scared Pidgey. Hoothoot crashed into Pidgey at full force.
Pidgey fell to the ground knocked out.

"Great jobHoothoot, now return...."King said as he proudly returned Hoothoot to his pokeball.
The boy was furious. He started to stomp the ground and started to yell."DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER YET. I STILL HAE ONE POKEMON, THIS POKEMON IS EXREMLY RARE IN THE JHOTO REIGON. I WILL HAVE THAT RIOLU!!!!!!!!!! GO!!!!"The pokemon started to form. King had no idea what it was."What on earth???? Holy crap hat is that????"The pokemon opened his eyes and cried out"SSLLLAKOOTHH"King opened his pokedex once again.
"Slakoth: The slacking pokemon. The way Slakoth lolls around makes people feel like they are doing the same""This kid doesn't really learn does he? OK Hugh..... Your up..."
"RI RI!" Hugh cried as he walked up to battle."OK Slakoth use scratch!!"The Slakoth walked slowly up to Hugh to scratch him.
King said nothing.
"Whats the matter? Giving up you Riolu???"Slakoth scratched Hugh with surprisingly a lot of power.
"Hugh lets try out that new move...... use counter.."
"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIII OLU!!" Hugh cried as he stepped forward and hit the Slakoth with all of the power that he was hit with. The Slakoth was sent flying toward his owner.
The boy started to become more and more frustrated with King."What was that move?"
"Thats a simple answer. That was counter. Its a move that allows the user to hit his or her opponent with twice the power that he was hit with, and since its a fighting type move, it does double the damage... now Hugh... use sky uppercut, I want to get to Cherrygrove City first...."Hugh began to charge at the Slakoth with full speed, his right hand, clenched in a fist ready to strike.
"Slakoth, move out of the way now!!!"It was to late for the Slakoth. Hugh swung his right hand at Slakoth, hitting him into the sky. Hugh began to walk back to King, while he was doing this, Slakoth fell to the ground unconscious. The boy returned Slakoth to the pokeball. He was extremely frustrated.
"Just you wait... I will get you and your Riolu sooner or later!!! Remember my name. Its Kyle!!!" He yelled running off in the opposite direction.
"Just like a spoiled rich kid... they think they can get anything they want with money... how pitiful, they don't know how to earn things on their own... Anyways, Hugh. Lets get to Cherrygrove City so we can heal you and Hoothoot up."Hugh shook his head in agreement. The two began to walk once again to Cherrygrove City, hoping to be the first rookie trainer there.

Nick and Cyndaquil hiked onto the dirt path that marked the end of safety from wild Pokémon, and marked the beginning of what was to be an extremely long journey. Cyndaquil calmly waddles left of him, the flame on his back almost non-existant, but enough to emit heat reaching Nycteus' left hand.

The environment around Nick and Cyndaquil was flat grassland. In the distance to his left is a forest, which seems thicker than any forest that he had seen before. To his right, a group of lakes reflect the sun with multiple glistens off of the surface.

He rubs his stubble once again and breathes in the air, which seems fresher than it ever had before. "You and me, we're gonna be the best." He says with a relaxed tone of voice.

"Quil!!" He is met with a cheerful response from his Cyndaquil, as they keep walking on the beaten dirt path. In the distance, he can see a flock of Pidgey flying high above. He pulls off his backpack while walking and reaches inside, pulling out a map of the Johto region.

"I guess this is the way to Cherrygrove City." Nick thinks to himself, tracing Route 29 with his finger. He then places the map back in his backpack and continues along his way. The walk continues to go quietly, until in the distance, what seems to be a beaten down house stands in the middle of the route. The paint is fading and chipped, and from a distance it seems to be abandoned.

"Huh. That's weird." Nick says out loud, rubbing his chin once more. Eyeing the house closely, Cyndaquil and Nycteus begin to walk closer and closer to the house. The two walk closer to the house to examine in, scanning his peripherals. To his right, a deep blue lake with calm waters reflects the suns glisten into the dark sunglasses that cover his eyes, looking calm with no Pokémon to be seen. To his left, a large healthy tree stands out in the middle of what seems to be a pasture.

“Quil!” His Cyndaquil responds happily. They walk toward the center of the pasture, approaching the large tree. The shade then covers Nick and Cyndaquil, allowing Nick to tilt his sunglasses up onto his bandana. Looking up the tree into the healthy green leaves, Nick spots a nest about halfway up the tree.

“Look at that nest, I wonder what’s inside.” Nick speaks to himself, with a slight chuckle. Cyndaquil looks up at him, somewhat confused.

All of a sudden, a large gust of wind picks up and causes the leaves to blow around, rustling the trees and the nest that is inside of it. The nest comes toppling down, seeming to disintegrate on the way down, as small sticks and other components of the nest fall apart. Nick looks up, only to see what seems to be a Pidgey tumbling toward the ground.

Acting quickly, he sticks out his hand, preventing the Pidgey from falling straight onto it’s head, and placing it down on the ground gently. The bird Pokémon didn’t seem to like that too much, as it begins flapping it’s wings violently at Nick and Cyndaquil.

“Pidg! Pidg!” Pidgey lets out very sharp shrieks as Nick backs up a bit, slightly confused. The Pidgey begins to flap it’s wings hard, getting dust into the eyes of both Nick and Cyndaquil, before taking off, swooping down and slamming itself into Cyndaquil, causing him to fall backwards. The Pidgey swoops up into the air once more, as Nick rubs his eyes, getting the sand out before placing his sunglasses back over his eyes. Meanwhile, Cyndaquil’s back flares up, sending a warm blast of heat towards Nycteus.

“Alright Cyndaquil, it’s on!”

“Quil!” Cyndaquil emits a more intense sound, as the Pidgey swoops down once.

“Alright Cyndaquil, when the Pidgey swoops down again, hit it with your Tackle attack!” Nick calls out, and Cyndaquil moves more out into the open.

As predicted, the Pidgey swoops down attempting to slam itself into Cyndaquil, who dodges the attack. The Pidgey then angles itself so it turns upside down, using its momentum to carry itself back towards Cyndaquil.

“Now!” Cyndaquil then launches himself at the Pidgey, catching it off guard. The PIdgey attempts to change its flight pattern at the last second, but to no avail as Cyndaquil slams into it, causing the flying Pokémon to spiral, eventually sliding across the ground.

“Good job Cyndaquil! Tackle it while it’s down!” Nick calls out, and the Cyndaquil charges towards the Pidgey, smashing it’s body into the flying Pokémon once more. The Pidgey swiftly gets back up, and flies into the air out of Cyndaquil’s reach.

It then flaps it’s wings, causing dust to storm up into the eyes of Cyndaquil once more. It then dive bombs itself into Cyndaquil, tackling it once more. Cyndaquil falls back, the bright red flames on it’s back flaring up. ”He must be getting angry.” Nick thinks to himself.

“Come on Cyndaquil, you can do this!” Nick encourages his Pokémon.

“Quil!”

However, the Pidgey begins to cause more dust and sand to come from the ground and into the eyes of Cyndaquil, who squeals in surprise. Pidgey swoops down once more and tackles Cyndaquil, leaving him at the base of a tree. The Pidgey swoops up into the air once more, and looks t be dealing the final blow to Cyndaquil.

“Quiiill…” Cyndaquil lays with not much left in the proverbial tank. Nick reaches into his pocket, and pulls out his Pokédex.

“Alright.. Let’s see if you know any other moves..” He says outloud, scrolling, searching. “Tackle.. Leer… Flare Blitz? Hmm…” He pauses. “Cyndaquil! Try using Flare Blitz when the Pidgey comes back down!”

All of a sudden, the flames start to shoot out of Cyndaquil’s back much akin to a bonfire.. The Pidgey swoops back down, as a massive flame engulfs Cyndaquil, who slames into the Pidgey!

The Pidgey immediately drops to the ground, motionless. “Quil…” Cyndaquil manages to make out a faint noise. Nick reaches into his pocket, pulling out a Pokéball.

“I can’t leave this Pidgey here like this..” He says solemnly, before pressing the button in the middle, enlarging the Pokéball. He then throws it at the Pidgey, who becomes engulfed by a red laser. The Pidgey goes inside the Pokéball, as it begins rocking back and forth on the ground.

Dry stones and twigs cracked under Ffion's boots as both her and Bella made their way along the path, with the abandoned house shrinking into the distance behind them. Bella, who was in her usual position of being perched on top of Ffion's rucksack with her front paws on the back of her trainers head, was peering from side to side as they continued away from the house. The small Eevee gave an excited cry and jumped down from Ffion's shoulders. Bouncing as she landed, Bella sprung into the grass to Ffion's right.

"Woah- Hey Bella, wait up!" Ffion called, in surprise.

Ffion stepped into the knee-height grass in pursuit of her Pokémon, who was visible only via the movement of the tall vegetation. Ffion followed in curiosity, watching the movement in the grass in front of her.
The trail of movement veered from side to side, and then Ffion noticed the second trail in her peripheral vision. This trail continued directly forwards for a few feet and stopped. A furry head appeared above the grass and then, spotting Ffion, disappeared again. Before Ffion could warn Bella about the approaching Pokémon, the two tails converged and the strange Pokémon leaped out of the grass in shock. Ffion looked around and spotting a clearer patch of grass, jogged over to it.

"Bella, over here!" She called as she reached the area.

Bella ran towards her trainers voice with the wild Pokémon close behind, and as she entered the clearing the wild Pokémon leaped. An instant before it crashed into Bella, she rolled out of the way and into a fighting stance. Ffion flipped her Pokédex open and aimed it towards the unknown Pokémon.

"Sentret - It stands on its tail so it can see a long way. If it spots an enemy, it cries loudly to warn its kind." was what the Pokédex had to say.

The Pokémon had a large bushy tail, and was longer than Ffion had originally expected. She realized that when she saw it earlier, it must have been standing on it's tail to see above the grass.

"Alright Bella, sand attack! Make sure it can't get you, then go all out!" Ffion called.

As per her instructions, the first thing Bella did was kick a cloud of dust into the confused Sentret's face, and then she strafed out of it's line of sight and hit it hard with a tackle directly to the flank. The Sentret rolled over and out of the cloud of dust, squinting from the pain in it's eyes and side. Angrily it squirmed around and then ran at Bella, attempting to scratch her with it's stubby but sharp claws.

Bella easily dodged the feeble attack from the already weakened Sentret, and tackled it again. Ffion pulled out a Pokéball and prepared herself to throw it, waiting for Bella's next tackle. However, before the battle could progress anymore, there was a crashing sound from the side and a young boy wearing a straw hat burst into the clearing. The Sentret took this moment of distraction and scampered away into the grass.
Ffion rounded on the boy angrily, as Bella relaxed realizing the fight was over.

"Damn it! You just lost me a new Pokémon!" She said, as she stowed the unused Pokéball.

The boy scoffed at Ffion and ran off into the grass again without saying another word. As frustrating as it was to come so close but lose a catch, Bella had still won yet another battle, and that was something to be proud of.

"Tch. Some people are so rude. I tell you what Bella, if we see him again then we are going to show him some manners." Ffion paused for a moment and added; "And kick his arse too!"

Bella jumped back up onto her backpack, and rested her paws on top of Ffion's head. The two of them made their way back to the path and continued onwards, no matter how large a setback, Ffion knew that together they could overcome it.

Nycteus walks over towards the Pokéball which is no longer shaking, picking it up quickly before placing the ball in one of the holsters on his hip. He immediately turns his attention towards Cyndaquil, who is slowly beginning to get to her feet. Nick runs over, giving his Cyndaquil his full attention.

“Are you okay, Cyndaquil?” He questions, picking up his Pokémon. She still has a slight heat, but the flame on her back is mostly extinguished. “You did a heck of a job out there, though.” He says with a smile.

“Quil…” He is met with what he thinks is the acknolegement from his companion.

“Here, eat one of these,” Nick says as he slings off his backpack, reaching inside and pulling out a berry, “This should help you feel a little bit better.”He slips the berry into his Pokémon’s mouth, and Cyndaquil chews the berry to shreds, swallowing it in a couple seconds. He places Cyndaquil on the ground, and the flame starts to get brighter on her back.

“Alright, let’s get going. We have to check out that house!” He says, and Cyndaquil oblidges, beginning to lead the way back into the middle of the dirt path. The old, beaten house lays in front of the two, as they continue their path towards it.

They get up to the old, worn down wooden fence in front of the house, allowing them to survey the house closer. The front door is non-existent, the paintless wooden frame of the door acting as a gateway into the dark abyss that seemed to swallow up all night that was inside.

“Well, we had best check it out. Who knows what could be inside…” Nick wonders out loud to Cyndaquil, but mostly himself. He pushes the gate back, making a loud CREAAAAAK sound, and wades through the tall grass that surrounds the old stones that lead the way to the house.

The closer they get to the house, the more inside is revealed, thanks to the now reignited flame on Cyndaquil’s back. Nick enters the house, stepping on the extremely dirty wooden floor. Cyndaquil hesitantly follows him in, lighting up the house quite nicely. Looking around, Nycteus surveys the interior of the house. The wallpaper on the walls have completely deteriorated, all of the furniture within what appears to be the living room has completely deteriorated, and the floor is completely covered with dirt. Kicking away the dirt, he unveils more of the wooden floor. The large living room seems to have been unoccupied for a long time.

“Huh. Looks like someone forgot where they lived.” He chuckles to himself, stepping further into the house. “Must not be any Pokémon in here, hey?” He lets out another chuckle, stepping deeper into the house. All of a sudden, the house is lit up with a bright flame.

“What the hell was that?” Nick says, spinning on his heels. He sees his Cyndaquil facing toward the door, and something floating above him. He immediately pulls out his Pokédex, pointing it at the object.

”Gastly, the Gas Pokémon. Its thin body is made of gas. Despite lacking substance, it can envelop an opponent of any size and cause suffocation.”

Nick’s Pokédex mechanically reads off to him.

“Are you ready to battle again?” He asks his Cyndaquil out loud.

“Quil!” A confident call from the Pokémon causes a slight smile to grow on Nick’s face.

“Alright Cyndaquil! Let’s do this! Use your Tackle attack!” He says out loud, and Cyndaquil charges at the Gastly, jumping into the air to tackle it… But nothing happens.

“Quil….” Cyndaquil seems like she is drifting in and out of sleep, before the flames on her back engulf her, and she begins to charge at the Gastly once more. Jumping into the air, she knocks the Gastly across the room. The ghost Pokémon seems to evaporate into thin air, before noises are heard across the room.

“Gaaaaaasssssss…”

“Gaaaaaass……”

The Gastly appears right behind Cyndaquil, licking it once again.

“Quil!” Nick’s Cyndaquil immediately turns toward the Gastly, more run down than before due to the effects of using Flare Blitz. Cyndaquil falls back, slightly hesitant.

“Cyndaquil! You have to use your Flare Blitz one more time!” Nycteus calls out to his Pokémon. His Cyndaquil seems slightly dazed, like it doesn’t know what to do. The Gastly moves in to lick it again, and does, sending Cyndaquil down in a state of shock.

“Come on Cyndaquil!”

“Quil…” She lays on the ground for a couple of moments, twitching occasionally. “C’mon… You can do this..”

The Gastly stops in mid air, seemingly taunting Nick and his Pokémon. “Use Flare Blitz, Cyndaquil! You can do it!”

“Quil..” His Cyndaquil slowly makes it to her feet, before letting out a large squeak, as flames shoot out of her back, engulfing her in flames. She then jumps into the air, slamming into the opposing Gastly..

“Quil..” Cyndaquil sounds gassed as Nick reaches into his Pokéball pouch hanging off of his belt, pulling out an empty Pokéball. He presses the center button, enlarging it before throwing it at the Gastly. A red light engulfs the Gas Pokémon, as the Pokéball drops to the ground. Nick runs over to his Cyndaquil, picking her up off of the ground as he eyes the Pokéball as it shakes on the ground.

“It looks kind if… dangerous” Feifei said doubtfully. Her and Huangju were standing in front of the rickety building. The walls are peeling and there’s not much left of the paint job that once was. Overall it was a sad sight to behold.

“Are we really willing to put our safety on the line just for the sake of curiosity?” a look was shared between Feifei and Huangju. “Totally.”

Feifei rummaged through her backpack and procured a flashlight. She cautiously entered the building- only to find out that it was fairly light inside. There were so many holes in the walls and roof that light poured in at irregular intervals. Inside nature had taken over. There was ivy climbing in through holes in the walls and what had formerly been the windows, and the darker places had moss growing over the wood. Rotten wood that had fallen down from the second floor was piled on the first. It smelled of rot and the air was musky and difficult to breathe.

It was awesome.

While Feifei walked cautiously (there were quite a few holes in the ground, she didn’t feel like breaking a leg in one), Huangju bounded forward. Lighter and more agile than his human, he had a lot less to be afraid of. He climbed freely from the railing of the stairs to the remnants of a ceiling lamp, having the time of his life.

There was a skittering sound that startled Feifei, but its creators were nowhere in sight. It had sounded like it came from the walls themselves. She noticed the spider webs in every corner of the ruined house and shuddered involuntarily.

“Huangju?!” She called. “Huangju, where are you?” The monkey had disappeared from her view and she didn’t like it. Exploring run down houses was all well in her theory, but the reality was scaring her. The bits of light that came in only seemed to amplify the shadows, and her flashlight wasn’t helping very much. There kept being subtle sounds coming through the walls and she could swear she saw a floating skull for a moment! “Huangju, let’s get back!”

No sign of Huangju though. Last she’d seen him he’d climbed back up the stairs and disappeared into the remnants of a hallway. The farmhouse was quite big, as farmhouses were prone to being. Step by precarious step Feifei ascended the stairs. She made sure to test each step first to see if it would take her weight, a few of them had already dropped any occupant. The wood was most certainly rotten. “Huangju? Huangju this is not funny, come back this instant!” Her voice shook and she didn’t sound very threatening. It also didn’t seem like the monkey was coming back on his own good behaviour. “Huangju I shall be very cross with you!”

There was a creak of a stair behind her and she swung her flashlight around wildly. There was nothing there. With a big sigh she went on, trying to stay as close to the walls as she could. That’s where the floor would be the strongest, the holes were all further away from the structural outer wall.

She jumped. Was that a flicker of purpose in the distance? Another wild swing of her flashlight revealed nothing. “Breathe Feifei,” she whispered to herself. “This is your imagination, there is nothing here.”

Another flicker. Another nothing. Then, from the distance, a furious snarl. “Huangju?!” Her voice seemed to have gone up an octave. “Huangju was that you?” The white of a skull flickered just momentarily before it was gone again.

Suddenly a bright orange light flicked in a room just a few paces ahead. Feifei hurried to the doorway as fast as she could while still making sure she wouldn’t fall through the floor. There, as she’d hoped, was Huangju and… a thing. A thing of lightly glowing purple gas. A thing with its tongue on her Chimchar.

Huangju was spitting fmall flames at the thing, but it clung on with its tongue on the side of Huangju’s head. The monkey’s skin rippled where the tongue touched it, a look of disgust clearly read on his face.

“Huangju! You’re breathing fire!” A moment of absolutely pride went through Feifei before she remember the situation. She searched her bag blindly for the Pokédex and pointed it at the gas. A picture identical to the creature appeared on the screen. It was a Gastly.

It was evident that the fire (ember as Feifei found out) wasn’t working because the ghost was licking Huangju’s head, which was also where the fire came from. The Gastly had to be dislodged first. “Huangju, get him off with scratch!”

Huangju gave her a look saying “are you serious?” and used thunder punch instead. The first went right through the ghost but the sparks attached moved themselves through the gas freely. The ghost let out a cry and retracted its tongue at once.

“Now use ember!” Feifei instructed, a little annoyed that Huangju had disobeyed her order. He must have known best though, she knew that. He was a lot better at this by himself than Feifei was, but she had to learn. The monkey opened his mouth and let out several balls of fire. More of them hit the Gastly, who retreated into a corner, the rest of them hit the walls of the very wooden house. As one might imagine, they ignited

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Feifei panicked as the fire spread throughout the wall. “Come on Huangju, we’ve got to go!” Smoke started to coat the ceilings already and the heat was unbearable. Chimchar bounded ahead of her, swinging from the side of thestairway to the lamp to the floor, he was by the entrance in a second. Feifei was much slower and clumsier.

No longer taking care of her step Feifei ran the length of the upper hallway. Before she could register what happened there was a lot CRACK and a searing pain in her leg. Her foot had gone through the rotting wood of the floor and some wood had. The wood had scraped open her leg and was lodged around it in such a way that it was stuck, The fire was gaining behind her, but that was the least of her worries. Thick smoke was gathering around her, penetrating her airways. In a spell of clear thinking she remember the school lessons on what to do in a fire. Thankful of the bagginess of her sweater she brought it up to cover her nose and mouth before using both arms to try and pry her leg loose. All around her the creatures that had been living in the house scattered.

Hordes of Spinarak hurried towards any creaks they could find. Ghosts were scattering too. The Gastly, however, seemed doubtful. It touched her leg with its tongue, which felt cold and incredibly unpleasant. She shivered violently. “Go away!” She made shooing motions with her hand. “Don’t touch me!”

In the doorway, meanwhile, Huangju was having a fit. He was screeching in his monkey way, not knowing what to do. Instinct told him to run away, just because his type was fire didn’t mean he couldn’t perish in one, but loyalty told him to help his trainer. His uproar did catch someone else’s attention though.

Through the smoke she could see a figure. “Here!” Feifei yelled through the sweater over her mouth. “Help me! I’m stuck!”

“Hold on, I’m coming!” The voice shouted back. There was some cursing as the owner of the voice stubbed his foot on the stairs. The flames were starting to get closer to Feifei now, but the stairway was still clear.

As the figure was struggling with getting up the stairs a glowing silver ball of gas appeared. Or, rather, reappeared. This glower was soft, but just enough to make out the contours of the stairs. The Gastly moved with the figure, staying just ahead to light the path.

“Where are you?” The figure called out, quite close now.

“Right here! Mind the holes, stay by the wall,” she advised. She could see the figure clearer as he approached her –for it was indeed a he.

“Give me your hand,” he held out his and she complied. He braced himself and gave one big pull and with another sharp pain her foot came loose from the boards. “Can you walk?”

“I can limp.”

“That’ll have to do.” He put one arm over her shoulder to help support her and together they descended the stairs and out of the burning building. When they distanced themselves from the burning farmhouse by a few meters they both fell down into the grass, panting. Haungju leaped into Feifei’s arms, hugging her tight.

“Sheesh, I love you too,” she croacked, her voice hoarse by the smoke. She coughed and the stranger offered her some water, which she gulped down. She got a good look at him for the first time. He had a mess of brown curls, equally brown eyes, and skin on the dark side even without the black soot that stained it. He previously had his shirt over his nose and mouth to protect against the smoke but that was down now. He took the water back and drank quite a bit himself. He also looked quite a bit older than Feifei herself.

“Hi there,” he said with a grin. “Edilio Esperanzo, pleased to meet you.”

“Hwang Feifei, thank you for saving my life,” she wanted to stand up to bow but her leg throbbed too much.

“Don’t mention it, I wasn’t about to just keep walking. In fact you have your Chimchar to thank, without him I wouldn’t’ve known there was someone in there.”

Feifei was about to say something back when she spotted the Gastly. It hung around in front of the farmhouse, unsure of what to do now that its habitat was in flames. It looked rather battered from the endeavor itself, or maybe from the battle with Huangju before that. Most of all, it looked lost.

“Edilio, how do Pokéballs work?”

He looked surprised, not believing anyone didn’t know how they worked. “You just toss one, it does the rest. You’re going to capture the Gastly?” Feifei nodded. “Good, it was mightly useful back there.”

Feifei got a Pokéball from her bag and tossed it. She had terrible aim and the Pokéball was about a meter off-target. Luckily Gastly was the only Pokémon around and the ball swallowed him up, fell to the ground, and started shaking…

Cherrygrove City (1-2 Posts)

Cherrygrove City: Just a pit stop on the way to Violet City. However, it's still a decently inhabited town. Not much has changed in the past 50 years as far as buildings go, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth your time to take a break here. The luscious coast line is great for relaxing, and I'm sure some of the locals wouldn't mind talking to some new trainers that are on their way to Violet City! Perhaps they have some pointers for you?

What you CAN do:
→ There's an old fisherman that's in the Pokémon Center that could really use some help. If you do him a favor (up to your discretion, but don't make it super short), he'd be willing to give you an Old Rod for your troubles!
→ If you do receive the Old Rod, you'll have a chance to capture some new Pokémon! If you do attempt it, leave the Pokéball shaking at the end of your post and I'll decide if you've caught it!
→ Take a look at the sights
→ Talk to anyone in town. If you have some good interactions maybe their might be some incentive behind it?

What you MUST do:
→ Make a stop in the Pokémon Center to heal, regardless if you're getting the Old Rod.
→ When you're done with whatever you want to do here, go to the entrance of Route 30.

Wild Pokémon here (by fishing):

Poliwag (Level 3-6)
Water Sport, Bubble

Wooper (Level 3-6)
Water Gun, Tail Whip, Mud Sport

@{Swan}:

Spoiler:

Without a home to return to Gastly didn't put up much of a fight.

Your new Gastly♀ is on Level 4 and knows Lick and Hypnosis! Haungju grew to level 9 and wants to learn Taunt! Would you like to replace something with it? Respond in the OOC thread.

@Century:

Spoiler:

First of all I suck for totally missing your post :c I'm sorry!

The ball shook and laid to a rest!

Your new Gastly is Level 4 and knows Lick and Hypnosis! Cyndaquil grew to Level 9!

Ffion exhaled and wiped her hand across her forehead as she stepped from the rough pebble-strewn path of route 29 and onto the firm and clean paths of Cherrygrove city. The sun was now directly overhead and the refreshing breeze of the morning had subsided leaving the air still and warm. People walked to and fro enjoying the warm weather, if she had needed there would have been plenty of people for Ffion to ask for directions. This however was not necessary, the tall domed roof, painted a vibrant cherry red and the large sliding, glass doors made the Cherrygrove Pokécenter the most distinctive and easily recognizable building in the small city. Pleasantly surprised, and not having to resort to cornering a poor towns-person for interrogation, Ffion strode towards the Pokécenter.
Fully aware of how weary she was, as she had been for a while now, she welcomed the soft 'wooshing' sound the glass doors made as they parted for her automatically. The wall of cold, refreshing air that hit her once the doors had parted was even more welcome, and she approached the counter smiling despite her aching legs.

"Welcome to the Cherrygrove Pokécenter miss, how may I help you?" The nurse announced loudly, in a practiced tone that suggested that she said the exact same thing to everyone to walk through the doors.

"Just a check up please, for my Eevee. Oh and is there somewhere close I can get a drink" Ffion said, adding the later part as an afterthought.

Bella leaped onto the counter from her usual position as Ffion produced Bella's Pokéball and handed it to the nurse. Looking disapproving of this, she took the Pokéball gently and directed Ffion to the vending machines standing against a wall a few feet away. Judging by the nurse's reaction, not many trainers allowed their Pokémon to ride atop their backpack, with their front paws on top of their trainers head. Ffion cared little, she had already decided she was much more in favor of keeping Bella out of her Pokeball, unless Bella objected of course. Pokemon were to be both friends and companions for Ffion's adventures, and what use is having companions if they're in Pokéballs all the time.
Whilst Ffion waited for Bella to be checked over and healed, she walked over to the vending machine and set her backpack on the floor. Organization wasn't a strong point of Ffion's and so she had to unpack half of her bag before she managed to find the worn leather wallet which housed her loose change. The mechanical clatter of the coins entering the machine was harsh and jarring in the still silence of the Pokécenter. Wondering if it was always this quiet, she bought a bottle of water and stood in silence, sipping from it occasionally.

Jumping slightly and dribbling water down her chin in the process, Ffion turned towards the voice to find an elderly and kind looking man. He was taller than her, and stooped slightly as he leaned on a walking stick. His face was lined and his skin was lightly tanned. Due to this, Ffion guessed that in his youth the man spent a lot of time outdoors. She wiped the water off her chin and replaced the lid on the water-bottle to avoid any farther accidents.

"Uh... Hi. I mean, Can I help you?" Ffion blurted out, still slightly alarmed by the sudden appearance of this old man.

The old man motioned to a table close by and the two of them sat. He began reminiscing about his past, in which he had apparently been both an able trainer and an adept fisher. Ffion suspected he had also been a ninja, or an assassin. Her mind could think of no other explanation for him managing to creep up on her so stealthily. In reality, she had been daydreaming and he had been stood there the entire time, but Ffion was not to know that. She often daydreamed. Very often.
Slightly bemused by the man's ramblings and cautiously looking around to ensure that there were no more inexplicably stealthy pensioners lurking around, Ffion listened, making sure to look as interested as she could for the sake of politeness.

"....And that is why I came to you my dear! You're a trainer, obviously. I've been waiting here all day for someone to turn up! Oh... how this town used to be so busy! Nothing like Goldenrod of course... I went there don't you know? When I was a trainer... Ah so long ago. Hmm where was I? Oh yes! I'm far too old to battle now, and all my Pokémon are too, we enjoy a comfortable life now. Hmm, but the thing is, I have a grandson. He's a little younger than you at a guess, and he wants to become a trainer. I need someone like you to help me show him what a real battle is like. I want him to see a battle first hand before he becomes a trainer, to prepare him!." The old man spoke slowly, and at times seemed distant as if he were trying to remember some far off place. After a moments pause in which he neither said nor did anything at all, he began to speak again;

"Oh, naturally I wouldn't ask you to do this for nothing. Oh no no, I still have a few of my old Fishing rod's left, and if you would help me then I think I could happily part with one of them. Well well, It could work out nicely actually. If I fish up a Pokémon, you can watch and learn how to fish first hand! Once I've got a bite, I'll reel it in and you can battle it! My young Sammy will see a battle first hand as well. You can catch some rare Pokémon fishing don't you know? Hmm... well then I think this old man's spoken far long enough; what do you have to say m'girl?" The old man stopped speaking, and had somehow managed to obtain all of Ffion's usually skittish attention span.

Ffion thought this odd. Usually she could hardly keep her own attention in check, and this stranger had managed to enthrall her with nothing but talking about his past. She thought to herself that his uncanny knack for storytelling was [/b]'probably something he had learned during his time at ninja-school'[/b]. She considered the offer, It was a good offer really. The battle would be valuable experience for Bella, and she could even catch a new Pokémon. In addition to that, she would gain a fishing rod and learn how to use it as well...

"Oh kayad ovtwo." Ffion paused for a second to let her brain catch up with her mouth and then repeated in a slower voice; "I mean, OK. I'd love to help you out."

The nurse returned and Bella ran over to Ffion enthusiastically. Once the nurse had returned Bella's Pokéball and ensured Ffion that she was an entirely healthy specimen of an Eevee, the two of them headed back out into the stifling warmth of the midday sun.

Ffion recounted everything to Bella, as they walked towards the beach. The old man had said he would meet her on the pier, and had gone off to get his grandson. Once they reached the start of the beach, Ffion removed her boots and socks, placing them in her bag. The sand was hot, but still pleasant to walk on. Spotting two lonely figures on the pier, Ffion walked over to them. The young boy had been dangling his legs over the edge of the pier, and his grandfather was telling him off in a caring manner.

"Don't know what Pokémon are in that water boy, you'll lose a toe like that!" He chuckled as he talked but the boy looked slightly alarmed.

After the elderly man had introduced Ffion and his grandson Sammy, and explained everything he needed to he cast his fishing rod into the water. The float landed with a small splash, and the three of them waited.
After 5 minutes, there had been nothing. Ffion was happy to just relax in the sun, and Bella was peering at her reflection in the water. Sammy stared intently at the float.

"It moved it moved, pull it in pull it in!" Sammy cried excitedly.

The experienced fisherman, although elderly had responded before Sammy even called. He was reeling the Pokémon in at a surprising speed. The water surface broke and a small blue Pokémon flew out and onto the pier.
Ffion sprang into action; first she whipped out her Pokédex and flipped it open pointing it at the bemused looking Pokémon.

"Wooper - When the temperature cools in the evening, they emerge from water to seek food along the shore." The Pokédex chimed instantly.

Ffion replaced the Pokédex in her pocket and began to speak confidently.

"Alright Sammy, you watching closely? scanned it with my Pokédex so I know what it is. Now Bella, hit it with a tackle attack!"

Bella jumped forward and sped at the Wooper who tried to waddle sideways out of the charging Eevee's path. The tackle only half connected, and the Wooper span on the spot as a result, and fell down. Bella shook herself and readied another tackle, as the Wooper happily cried 'Woo' and then spat a long jet of water at Bella with a 'Perrr'. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack Bella landed on her side, taking the full force of the watergun to her flank. Rolling out of the way she launched herself in another tackle, and this one connected fully.
The Wooper tumbled backwards over itself a few times, and cried in shock. Hoisting itself to it's feet laboriously, the Wooper waddled to the edge of the pier as quickly as it's injured body could carry it, and jumped off happily.

Slightly annoyed that yet another Pokémon had managed to escape from a battle so easily, Ffion decided that she would take steps in the future to cut off escape routes. However, Ffion's annoyance didn't last. She had learned a valuable lesson, and would be prepared for next time. Sammy was overjoyed and recounted the battle as fast as he could to his grandfather with "It was like, wow, and then bam!" and other such details. Chuckling happily Sammy's grandfather thanked Ffion profusely. After a little conversation Sammy and his grandfather left, leaving Ffion with an old, but well looked after collapsible fishing rod. The rod was a composite of metal and wood, with a green handle made from some sort of binding. Ffion tied it to her backpack, she would have plenty of time to use it later on.

A few minutes passed, and Ffion decided that now that they were alone, she could finally do what she had wanted to do since she first walked into Cherrygrove. She removed her leather jacket and green vest, and pulled a light-blue bikini top from her bag, she changed into the bikini top, but left her brown cargo-shorts on as they would dry quickly enough in then dived off the pier into the cool refreshing water.

"Haha, wow this is great" She called to Bella, who remained on the pier, watching in curiosity.

After putting a paw into the water, Bella decided against joining her trainer, and lay down on the pier in the warm sun.

King and Hugh were walking on a pathway. King stopped for a minute, squatted don for a couple of minutes, and then he jumped up, slapping both sides of his faces gently."OK Hugh," King said to Hugh."We are almost at Cherrygrove City, I know it."
King and Hugh began to walk again until they began to see some fences. They were still a pale white and looked like the fences you would usually put around your house. King tried to look ahead and saw soething faint. It looked like a house. King turned to Hugh and said,"Hugh, you want to race to the end of this road?""RI RI!!" Hugh called out ready to go. "OK Hugh on the count of 3, 1.... 2... 3 GO!!!" King yelled as he took off running with Hugh right behind him. King looked like he was going to win, and then Hugh came out of nowhere with a burst of speed, passing King and making it to the end of the road."RI RIRIRIRIRI!" Hugh cried, laughing at King who began to walk the rest of the way."You know Hugh... you're a showboat..." King said out of breath.

King caught up with Hugh and they began to walk toward the house. Soon after, King saw a sign saying: WELCOME TO CHERRYGROVE CITY, YOUR FIRST STOP AS A POKEON TRAINER!King smiled and said out loud,"We are finally here Hugh, we made it to Cherryrove City!"
King took his first steps into the new city. King began to look around for a pokemon center since he needed to heal up his pokemon. An elderly man walked up to King and asked him"Excuse me young man..."
King turned to see who was talking to him, he was a pale-colored man who looked like he was in his 60s or 70s. He was short, about 5'5'', with a bold chin that stood out. He also had a pointed nose, just like King. He appeared to be kind and very helpful.
"Maybe, he will know where the pokecenter is...""Are you a new trainer to the Johto region?"
"Yes sir, I am a new trainer to the Johto region, can you show me where the pokecenter is, I need to heal up my pokemon.The old man shook his head and pointed to a building with a pokeball on the roof that was colored orange.
"That is the pokemon center, if you have anything else to ask me, just let me know."The old man said with a smile.
King bowed, thanked the man and began to walk to the pokecenter. When King approached the doors, they slid open automaticaly. King approached the counter to a smiling woman with a pink pokemon next to her. It was round, and had an egg on its chest.
"Hello young man, and welcome to Cherrygrove City's pokemon center, I am nurse Joy how can I help you?"
"Yes Nurse Joy, my name is King can you heal up my pokemon?"
"Of course King, give me your pokemon, and they will be fully healed in a matter of seconds.
"OK Hugh, you have to get in your pokeball or a few minutes OK?"
"RI, RI" Hugh said as he shook his head.
King held out Hugh's pokeball and a red beam shot out of the center of the pokeball, hitting Hugh and sending Hugh into the pokeball and handed that pokeball, along with Hoothoot's pokeball to Nurse Joy."Thank you King, now please go sit down and I will call you when your pokemon are ready to pick up."

King walked over to the couch where other people were sitting and sat down. King looked at the other people here. There were a few other trainers here, but they didn't look interesting enough to talk to. A few minutes later, a noise came from the counter."DING-DONG! Can King please to the counter, your pokemon are ready to be picked up."King stood up and began to walk over to the counter. He took the pokeballs, and threw them both out. The pokeballs opened up and Hoothoot and Hugh came out, looking refreshed and flowing with energy."HOOTHOOT!!!"
"RIOLU!!!!"Both pokemon cried out with energy."Awsome, you guys look refreshed, OK Hoothoot ruturn for now, the next time we battle, you will battle first."King placed Hugh's pokeball back into his bag, and then Returned Hoohoot to his pokeball with a red beam from the pokeball. King walked out of the pokecenter to find the old man that pointed King toward the pokecenter greet him once again."Did you find the pokecenter acceptable?"
"Yes sir, the Nurse was kind and healed my pokemon quick. Sir can I ask you something?"
"Yes what is it?"
"Can you show me where the mart is? I would like to buy a pair of sunglasses, the sun is really bright here"
"Of course young man."The old man once again pointed out a building that has a blue roof on it. King once again, King thanked the old man and began to walk toward the pokemart.

Like the pokecenter, the doors slid open greeting King with shelfs upon shelfs of pokemon accesories, and things that trainers could use during their journey. The clerk that stood behind the counter greeted King with a smile"Hello good sir, welcome to Cherrygrove City's pokemart. What are you looking for?"
"Ah.... yes. I am looking for a nice pair of sunglasses that will help sheild my eyes nicely and look nice."
"Well, there are a nice selection of sunglasses to choose from in aisle 5."
King thanked the clerk and began to walk toward aisle 5. Upon entering aisle 5, King was surrounded by shelf's of sunglasses. There were so many types of them, big ones, long ones, black ones, blue ones, the list goes on and on. After a little while of searching, King found the pair that he belivd was absolutely perfect. They were a medium size pair, shaded black lens, and a gold-like color frame. King picked them off of the aisle and walked back to the clerk.''I would like these pair please.''
"Ok sir, that will be.... $15."

King took out the $15 and gave it to the clerk. King began to walk out the door, and he began to look for the old man that helped him out. About 2 minutes of searching King found him and walkd up to him."Sir, thank you for helping me find the pokecenter and the pokemart."
"It was no problem young man.."
"King... my name is King."
"King... a very interesting name. my name is Craig, a pleasure to meet you King."
"A pleasure to meet you to Craig..."
"GRUMBLE... GRUMBLE..."King grabbed his stomach and crouched down."Man... I was so excited about starting my pokemon adventure... I haven't eaten since I left Prof. Gold's lab. Craig, do you think you can show me a good place to eat?"Craig chuckled a little bit and said."Sure King, follow me. I'll show you one of the best places to eat in the entire Johto region."

King and Craig were walking towards the pier that overview the ocean. Before walking onto the pier, Craig turned right to a plain looking house."Here it is King." Craig said with a smile.
King pushed open the doors and the first thing King noticed was the smells. There were so many of them, a crisp citrus smell, to a smooth sweet smell, a spicy and bold smell, to a satisfying smell of the food. It made King's mouth water a little bit."What is this place?" King asked Craig."Its Cherrygroe City's Berry restaurant. The food that you are smelling are all made from berries. From their simple oran berry sou, to their sitrus berry shakes. Its all fresh to, look," Craig said as he pointed to a window on the right of the building, outside you can see trees and bushes of different berries, and people and pokemon alike were picking the berries, bringing them to the kitchen, where King and Craig seen the people bringing in the berries to the chefs, who were preparing the berries into various dishes."The owners here allow the people to see what they are picking, and what they are cooking. Come on lets grab something to eat, my treat." Craig said with a smile.

King and Craig sat down at a table near another window that had a beautiful view of the ocean.
The sight was simply beautiful. The sandy beach was overlapped by a blue endless-like ocean with a amazing view of the sky. King took out Hoothoot's pokeball and called him out to eat with him and Hugh. A waitress came up to King and Craig."Are you guys ready to order?"
"Yes I would like a Oran berry sandwhich"
"I would like 3 berry salads, and a sitrus berry shake"
"HOOtHOOT"
"RI RI"
"OK it will be ready in about 10-15 minutes."The waitress left and then King and Craig began to talk."So Craig, how do you know so much about pokemon?"
"Well King, I as a pokemon trainer, just like you."
"Really?"
"Yea, it was amazing, the battles that I had, I could talk about them for hours on end, but I would like to know about you King. What made you become a pokemon trainer?"
"Well Craig, I'm not from the Johto region. I am actually from the Unova region. My parents sent me here cause they thought I would have a better life here then I did there. So for about 3 years, I stayed at my aunt's house. Then when I became 16, I was finally able to head out on a pokemon adventure. My very first pokemon was Riolu, who I decided to nickname Hugh. Then on Route 29 I met Hoothoot, my first pokemon that I captured, and now I'm here."The waitress came back with the food after King finished his story. The 4 of them began to eat. The mixed berry salad had so many tastes to it. It started out crisp and refreshing, then became a nice sweet taste, followed by a small spicy kick, finally followed by a thirst making dry flavor, which was easily quenched by the sitrus berry shake. Hoothoot and Hugh also enjoyed the salad and expressed their gratitude with a large belch.

Craig paid for the food and the two of them left the restaurant and Craig asked King,"King... do want to have a battle?"
"Sure, Hugh can enjoy a battle after eating!"
King and Craig began to walk toward the beach to have their battle."OK King, this will be a simple 1-on-1 battle, Hugh V.S..."Craig threw out a pokeball . The pokeball opened, with the white light turning into something that appeared to be a rat. King brought out his pokedex to see what the pokemon was.Rattata: The Mouse Pokemon, It gnaws on hard objects to wear down its fangs, which will grow constantly during its lifespan."You're gonna use a normal type against a fighting type? You are at a huge disadvantage against Hugh"
"Hmhmhm... you might be mistaken about that. But we will see about that won't we? The first move is yours King."
"OK Hugh, use Sky Uppercut!"Hugh began to charge at the Rattata with a blazing fast speed, readying his right hand ready to strike."Rattata, dodge and use tackle."The Rattata didn't look like it moved, but even faster then Hugh was, Rattata dodged the Uppercut and then charged at Hugh at blazing speeds. Hugh was hit before he was even able to react. "Hugh, use Counter now!"Hugh stopped himself from falling on the floor completely and began to charge at Ratatta, aiming on dealing him the same damage that Hugh felt."Dodge, and use quick attack."Rattata, once again out sped Hugh and hit Hugh with the quick attack. Hugh was sent back again, this time, it looked like hugh was down and out. King was begnning to be worried."Damn, how is his Rattata so fast, this shouldn't be happening right now...""Hugh, get up please!!!"Hugh stood up, ready to fight again. "OK Hugh, let try Sky uppercut again!"Hugh charged at Rattata ready to strike. Once again though, Hugh missed his target."Rattata, use Super Fang!"
"Super Fang? Hugh, I don't know what that move is, but use Endure!!"The Rattata charged at Hugh, who was getting ready to endure the hit. Rattata bared its fangs, and bit Hugh with full power."OK Hugh, use Counter!"Hugh grabbed Rattata and slammed it into the ground with full force. King smiled, thinking he has won the match, but from the smoke, Rattata emerged, looking as if the Counter didn't even affect him. Hugh was exausted, he wouldn't be able to fight on longer. Then Craig returned Rattata to his pokeball."King... lets head to the pokecenter, Hugh needs to be healed."
"But our battle-"
"Can be finished at a later time, Hugh is exausted, he needs his rest."King shook his head, and the two began to walk to the pokecenter one more time.

After a few minutes, King and Hugh emerged from the pokecenter."Craig, how is your Rattata able to beat a fighting type pokemon? Normal types shouldn't be able to win against a fighting type pokemon, they are at a huge disadvantage..."
"Type match ups are not everything King, think about some of the previous champions like Blue, Cynthia, and even Gold. They all had pokemon that were weak to some types, but they had to overcome them to become the chamipons that they are known to be now. Remember this King, Type match ups are not everything, I will be keeping a close eye on you King, and I am sure you will make it to the Pokeon League. Good Luck on your journey."
"Thank you Craig, I will be back to finish up our battle don't forget that!"Craig chuckled a bit and then pointed King in the direction of the next route, Route 30. King thanked him and began to walk toward the route. King reached into his bookbag, and pulled out and put on his newly bought sunglasses."OK Hugh, onto Route 30!"

“Hey that seems like a lodge!” Kat said noticing something in the distance. She and Pyro had been walking on the dirt path from some time now and apart from grass and trees, they hadn’t seen anything new since their encounter with the two Pidgeys. Not a single soul lurked around them….the girl didn’t really know why, it was an open route for Pete’s sake. Seeing the house, Kat decided that the best thing to do for now was to go and ask for direction. Pyro followed his trainer as she averted from the main path towards the building in the distance. It didn’t take long for the two to reach it, however, as they were getting closer they realized that their chance of getting any directions were zero.
“ If it wasn’t us I’d find this situation rather funny.” She said not knowing if she should giggle or face palm herself. The thing was that what Kat saw from the distance as a lodge, from a closer view was actually rundown house, which was most likely abandoned. “ Note to self, bring a pair of binoculars next time.” Were Kat’s words as she sat down on a rock. She could have leaned on the fence, but she wasn’t sure if it would hold here. Indeed, the whole place needed a makeover.
“Pig..Tepig!” the fire pokemon said as he walked in front of Kat not knowing what to do now.
“Guess we’ll go back to the dirt path!” but as soon as she ended her sentence she heard a loud scream coming from the house. Kat got up and took a few steps towards the house, not daring to enter it though. A few second after that out came a young girl, running as if she had seen a ghost. The young girl ran right towards where Kat was standing, then stopped just a few feet away from her to take her breath. Kat was looking at a girl about her age, more or less, who had her curly chestnut hair wrapped in a bun, that was fixed to her head with a green piece of material. She put her hand at her chest to try and calm her heartbeats, her movements drawing Kat’s attention to her clothes. A white short-sleeved blouse that had small flower patterns all over, a pair of plain blue jeans and some trainers.
“What happened in there?” Kat asked as she got closer.
“It………was………horrible……bugs everywhere!” the girl said in between her gasps of air. The girl looked up at Kat after managing to calm herself.
“Bugs?!?” Kat asked looking at the house.
“Yeah. Tons of them. I was out in the field looking for something when a Spinarak came out of nowhere and snatched my notebook and dashed off into this place. I went after it and next thing I knew I was surrounded by a lot of Spinarak who chased me away.”
“That’s terrible. Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. I can’t think of a motive for wanting it. But I have to get it back. Oh, where are my manners I’m Abby!”
“Don’t worry I forgot to introduce myself as well. I am Kat!” she replied with a smile. “ So what are you gonna do now?”
“Nothing I think. It’s impossible to handle them alone.” Abby said as she crossed her arms. Kat couldn’t help but see the depressed look on her face. Abby had no clue what to do in this situation.
“Then why don’t we help!” Kat said after exchanging some looks with Pyro. “You said it yourself, you can’t do this alone, so let’s work together to get back your notebook.”
Abby looked at Kat still pondering the situation. “ Just one problem, there’s three of us, well four with my pokemon and a dozen of them. “
“We’ll………think of something.” Kat said and sat down next to the girl.

______________________________

Half an hour later the two girls entered the abandoned house through the front entrance, what was left of it of course. The place was in a really bad state. As Kat was walking she saw that all the walls had holes in them, not even one of them being in a good state. The same thing could be said about the ceiling, however, the holes in the ceiling made possible for light to break into this rundown place, lighting up the place a bit. The light fell down onto the wild plants that had grown in a variety of manners and shapes. The scene of flowers growing through a pile of fallen bits of ceiling or seeing the grass make its way from the outside into the building gave the place a unique sense of beauty. Nature is a great thing, it turned something left by humans to be forgotten under the grip of time into a little sanctuary.
“Their nest should be a little further.” Said Abby as she moved a piece of wood from their path.
“Ok!” Kat replied as she was scanning the area in front of them. “ So what’s in that notebook that’s making us go through this?”
“Umm it’s my research. I’m aiming to become a pokemon professor and this year I have to present a thesis for my graduation, not very thrilling since I can’t handle big crowds. But all my field data was there, so that’s why I’m keen on getting it back.” The girl started to explain.
“Well we could abandon this and you just say that you can’t do it due to this misfortune.” Kat said in a teasing manner.
“No no…no…no definitely no! That would mean losing the scholarship that the Primrose Corporation offered me.” Kat couldn’t help but stop in her tracks for a moment. Primrose?!? There’s only one industry with that name and that was her father’s.
“Is anything wrong?” Abby asked looking around for any movement.
“No, no, just felt a cold breeze.” Kat brushed it off. She couldn’t tell the girl that she was the daughter of the one who was supporting her fees. Things would get too awkward for both of them.
“They should be around here. Yes I’m sure of it. I recognize these dusted bookshelves.’ Abby said pointing at the wall next to them. They reach what looked like a long corridor which had some pieces of furniture left like small tables or chairs all covered in dust and ravished all over the place. As the girls walked slowly along the corridor something was watching them from behind a rusted flower pot. The thing peaked at the girls as they were searching around. Kat couldn’t shake the feeling as if she was being watched and turned in the direction of the thing and spotted it as it snuck back behind the pot.
“ I think I saw someth….” but just as she was about to point out the place she spotted what looked like a greenish figure, a spider like pokemon came down in front of her and jumped on her face. “ Get it oooooof!” she yelled being caught off guard. Abby took a cushion that was lying down on the floor from one of the chairs maybe and smacked that spider sending it flying into the wall to the left. However, they weren’t done yet. As soon as Kat regained her vision she and Abby saw that dozens of Spinaraks were coming down from the ceiling, from the wholes that came from the attic, climbing down on their silky treads, all of them looking as fierce as they could be.
“Hope our plan works!” Abby said getting next to Kat.
“Yeah, cause we don’t have a plan B!” Kat tried to joke a bit. “Wait for them until you see the one we came here for.”
“THERE HE IS!!” Abby yelled pointing at the last Spinarak that came down from the ceiling. It was slightly larger than the others and from the looks of it, it was also their leader. However that didn’t matter at the moment, Abby and Kat were looking at the notebook that the spider had wrapped on its back with a bit of silk.

The notebook had some drawing of some butterflies on it which might have confused the pokemon into thinking it was food. As soon as the big spider was among the others Abby pulled a pokeball from her belt and nodded at Kat. “ Budew come out and use Sleep Powder!!!!” she shouted as she pushed the button on the pokeball. Out came a Budew just like the one Kat met earlier that day. Without wasting a second the Budew jumped up in the middle of the Spinarak swarm and started spreading a bright powder at their enemies that soon enveloped all of them. One by one their threads snapped as they fell down and fell asleep.
“Marvelous, I told you it would work!!!” were Kat’s words as she saw a pile of spiders on top of each other in front of her that were sleeping like logs.
“I wouldn’t count my Torchics yet.” Abby said showing Kat that the boss Spinarak was still standing there baffled by the sight of its comrades falling. “I just remembered that some Spinarak have the ability *Insomnia* which prevents them from falling asleep. ” Abby said face palming herself.
“NOW YOU TELL ME!!!! Well no turning back now!!!” Kat said knowing that even if that one Spinarak was still standing, it would be pointless to just run away. “Pyro give us a hand!!!” she yelled and pulled out her pokeball as well. Out came the fire pig pokemon puffing ember from its snout. As soon as the Spinarak saw Pyro it turned around and shot a piece of silky thread swinging further along the corridor. Pyro, Kat and Abby started chasing the bug pokemon, trying to catch up to it before it gets away. “Pyro use Ember on its string!!!” shouted Kat as she notice Pyro gaining some speed. Pyro jumped in the air as its tail started to glow in and orange light and then shot a spiraling stream of ember from its snout directly at its target. The string quickly caught fire and spread along the line like wild fire. The Spinarak fell down crashing onto the ground.
“Grabbed it!” Abby said as she ran where the wild pokemon was and, while still in a haze, she snatched her notebook from the spider’s back. She turned around and ran towards Kat. But the Spinarak wasn’t going to let her get away that easily, and as the girl was running back it raised its head and fired multiple purple needles from its mouth towards Abby.
“Head down!” Kat yelled as she grabbed a piece of what might have been half of a door and jumped in front of Abby using the door as a shield from the Poison Sting attack.
“Thanks!” Abby said in a soft voice. But Kat just nodded as she was focused on the matter at hand. The Spinarak started climbing up the wall making its way onto the ceiling.
“Hmmm that’s not quite fair!” Kat thought as she threw away the piece of wood that had multiple needles stuck, but the time it took her to get up and throw the door Spinarak was able to get out of reach and even worse, launch another Poison Sting attack. “Pyro use Ember once again!!!” she yelled. Pyro puffed its nose and out came another stream of fiery sparks that when made contact with the needles burnt them one by one. ‘Perfect now use Magnitude!!!” were Kat’s words as she quickly came up with an idea to get Spinarak down from its place. Pyro’s body became outlined in a brown aura, then jumped in the air and came crush down on the ground. The impact caused a tremor that surged through everything. The whole abandoned house shook due to the move, piles of dust filling the air everywhere. Spinarak started to shake as well and soon enough it lost its grip on the ceiling and slipped, crashing into the wooden floor.
“Spinarak!” loud cry filled the hall as the bug pokemon jumped on its feet in anger, looking straight at Pyro. It clenched its fangs and shot a piece of silky thread and flew straight at Pyro’s feet, sticking the poor pokemon to the floor. Then, just like how when a fly is caught in a spider’s web, Spinarak dashed towards the fire pokemon as quick as possible.
“Kat get him out of there!” Abby said grabbing Kat arm. But Kat didn’t respond at all, she was looking at Spinarak who was getting closer and closer with every second.
“Ember!” Kat yelled in the last second, just before Spinarak was about to make contact with her pokemon. Pyro fired another Ember attack sending Spinarak back from where it came, now all covered in burns. Kat knew that in its fit of anger, the bug pokemon forgot about Pyro’s ember attack, thus giving Kat the chance to launch a finishing blow. “Nicely done!” Kat said as she removed the sticky silk around the piglet’s feet. It gave Kat a confident wink as it shook the last piece of thread off his left foot.
“I really thought Pyro was a goner there!” Abby said relieved. “ But nonetheless thank you very much for helping me retrieving my notebook. You helped me despite the danger and not being related to the problem.” She said bowing before the two.
Kat couldn’t help but remember her butler who always did this around her, despite she telling them not too. “Don’t worry about it too much. Just work hard on your thesis and become a pokemon professor.” Kat replied like a true lady. “Let’s get going!” she said as Abby got up.
“Guess this place isn’t really haunted!” Abby said after a few steps long the corridor. The two girl had to go through the main corridor to reach the exit.
“Wwwwhat?” Kat said, her voice squeaking a bit.
“Didn’t you know this place is rumored to be a haunted house, where ghost wander scaring those who trespass their home. “ Abby started telling with utmost calmness. “ Seems it was just a praaa….” But Abby’s words stopped in their track, unable to come out as she froze in her place pointing at a shadow that appeared on the left wall just in front of them, coming from the opened room on their right.
“What’s wrooo….” Kat tried to ask but fell under the same effect as Abby at the sight of the shadow. It was getting bigger and bigger on the wall, under the form of a large two piece snowman. Kat didn’t dare to look and just grabbed Pyro under her arm and with her other one grabbed Abby and ran past fast as she could past the room. She ran straight like a racing horse, looking only at the exit that now was visible. She ran and ran until the three got outside and started to run in the fresh grass, putting more and more distance between them and the abandoned house.
But what was lurking in the abandoned house. The shadow on the wall got bigger and bigger swallowing the whole wall with its darkness just like when the moon covers the sun in an eclipse. Stepts could be hard as the shadow spread across the wall until finally something came out of the room.

Ffion and Bella spent at least an hour relaxing by the water, and after Ffion had sunbathed herself dry after her swim, the two of them were feeling rather hungry. Ffion changed back into her vest and jacket, and the pair headed back into town in search of something to eat. Ffion didn't really mind where or what they ate, a small café or restaurant would be good, but even a store-bought sandwich would do nicely. She had bought the majority of her meager life-savings with her, but she couldn't afford to be fussy with food. Deciding that the best place to find someone to ask for directions would be the Pokécenter, Ffion and Bella made their way towards the Pokécenter.
As they approached, they noticed a crowd of people huddled outside the entrance to the Pokécenter. The crowd began to disperse as they approached, and they could see that the focal point of the crowds attention was a young boy, and the teenager in a straw hat that Ffion had encountered earlier. The boy with the hat said something to the other then turned and walked away. As Ffion approached she caught the tail end of what the boy was saying;

"...Be better of with me anyway, you can't train it properly. You're lucky that theres people around or I'd just take it." He muttered, adding the last bit in a quieter voice.

The straw-hat wearing boy turned and walked away with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey there, uh what was that all about?" Ffion asked, unable to control her curiosity.

The young boy looked at her after a moments staring after the straw-hat disappearing away. He looked slightly depressed and held a Pokéball in his hand, actually he looked more than slightly depressed, he looked as if he wanted to cry. Realizing that something was clearly wrong, Ffion took the initiative and steered the boy inside of the Pokécenter.

"Come on, lets go and sit down inside, and you can explain everything. If I can help I will." She said, feeling far more grown up and responsible than she ever thought she would.

Once they were sat down inside the Pokémon center, and after the boy had handed his Pokéball to the nurse he introduced himself as Tommy and began to explain what had happened. Ffion listened in silence as Tommy explained how the boy in the straw hat had offered to trade him a Pokémon for Tommy's Pokémon, which was according to the boy's words; 'Just the Pokémon he was looking for.' However, when Tommy declined saying that he could never part with his friend, the boy challenged him to a battle stating that whoever won would keep Machop, and if Tommy disagreed then he would simply have his Pokémon attack Tommy and take Machop afterwards.
It was evident that Tommy had lost, and the only reason the boy hadn't taken his Machop was because of the large number of witnesses that the battle had attracted. After the boy finished talking and had calmed down a bit, he looked a bit happier.

"I met him before, he was rude then but I never thought he'd try to steal a Pokémon. Hmm, well you should be thankful that you still have your Machop, and just try to stay away from people like him in the future." Ffion said, trying to comfort the boy.

Tommy walked Ffion to a local café in thanks, and him and his Machop waved happily as they departed. Now thoroughly hungry, Ffion ordered a large sandwich for herself and a bowl of Pokémon food for Bella. The two ate in silence, sitting outside the café in the warm sun. Once they had both eaten as much as they could, they strolled back down to the beach at a leisurely pace. A combination of the warm sun and good food had made Ffion feel uncharacteristically calm and sluggish, and she decided that it would be a good time to try out her fishing rod, as it would give her an excuse to sit down for a bit.

It turned out that Fishing wasn't as leisurely as she had anticipated, not five minutes after the float had hit the water with a small splashing sound was Ffion reeling in the tugging line, and Bella staring at the float intently. The float left the water as Ffion flicked her wrists to pull the rod up. Holding onto the float, was a small round blue Pokémon. It was not a Wooper, like last time and this time it was actually a Pokémon Ffion recognized.

"That's a Poliwag! I used to see them in the ponds in Azalea... Ok Bella watch out 'cause it might know hypnosis!"

Distant memories of the time when Ffion herself had fallen prey to a Poliwag's hypnosis attack whilst she tried to catch it with her bare hands wormed their way into Ffion's head, but she pushed them away. Right now she only had one thing to concentrate on and that was defeating this Poliwag.

"Alright Bella, Sand attack!" Ffion called.

The fact that they were on a sandy beach made this the perfect opportunity for this attack, and Bella happily obliged by kicking up a plume of sand into the surprised Poliwag's face. In retaliation the Poliwag began to spit water onto it's own body. Unsure as of what it was doing Ffion pointed her Pokédex at it.

"Water-spot. A water type move that lowers the effectiveness of fire type attacks" The Pokédex chimed helpfully.

Ffion, pleased that the attack posed no threat, gave a shot laugh and told Bella to hit it with a tackle. Bella had been expecting this command and charged instantly, crashing into the side of the Poliwag.

"Alright, another tackle, finish this up!" Ffion called.

Bella charged for another tackle, but the Poliwag shot a quick stream of bubbles which hit Bella directly in the face. Bella fell to her side and got up slowly, the attack had been a direct hit and she was already showing the strain of it.

"Bella are you alright? Uh... Use wish!" was the slightly panicked cry that came from Ffion.

Bella shut her eyes tightly and concentrated hard, tapping into the psychic energy which she had only done once before. It was an odd feeling, like waking up after a beautiful nights sleep. Bella felt rejuvenated as she felt her body recovering. The Poliwag saw it's chance and shot another stream of bubbles at Bella, but it didn't connect. Leaping high above the attack, and slamming down hard into the Poliwag, Bella sent the water-type Pokémon rolling along the sand with a finishing blow. The Poliwag landed and fell into unconsciousness on the sand.
Ffion pulled a Pokéball from her belt, but paused in internal debate. She let her hand fall back down lightly deciding that she wasn't ready for another Pokémon yet. Bella watched this in silent curiosity, happy in the knowledge of her victory.

After congratulating and fussing over Bella, Ffion gently lowered the Poliwag back into the water. The small Pokémon awoke slowly and happily swam off after it took a moment to realize it's situation.

Gael stood motionless, basking in the sight of New Bark Town's skyline before the sunrise. He clutched a Poké Ball with his right hand; it had only been yesterday that he'd received his starter Pokémon from Prof. Gold but with it came a big responsibility, one he couldn't leave unfulfilled.

+ + +

It is ten o'clock at night. Prof. Gold stares into a large cardboard box with twelve trays inside, each containing a starter Pokémon, five empty Poké Balls and a Pokédex. A sudden click from the door alerts him of someone's entrance into the room, where only one aide remains ready to go home.

"You're pretty late, are you one of the new trainers?"

These were the first words that Gael ever heard from the tall, lanky man who stood before him. Prof. Gold's question was fair, but completely off-target. The only reason Gael had come to his lab was to seek for some sort of job that paid more than helping his dad in the farm.

"To be truthful to you, I would usually hope to be able to say 'Sorry, but we have no Pokémon left' by this time. Unfortunately, it seems we have a surplus right now." Prof. Gold continued, not minding Gael's apparent confusion.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Prof. Gold suddenly retrieved a small, metallic tray with six Poké Balls and a Pokédex. "Anyways, here's all you need on your journey, umm, what was your name again?"

Gael cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Professor, my name is Gael Marcusson. I'm not one of the new trainers; I was actually here to ask if you required some sort of assistance around the lab. Some way for me to be useful?"

"I… see." He managed to say. Dismayed, the professor took a seat and sighed deeply. "I can’t really blame you for not wanting to leave in a journey. With the recent incident at Violet City and the rise of Team Zeta, damn, maybe even I would never have started my journey."

"Team Zeta?" Gael repeated, and Prof. Gold went ahead and explained the current situation in Johto…

"Some members of Team Zeta are currently holed up in Violet City, but there's no signs of them. Catching these thugs soon may be our only chance to figure out Team Zeta's plans and save Johto from them."

Gael took in the information he'd just been given. If nothing else, he realized that this was the opportunity he had been hoping for since his childhood in Bloomingvale: to be of real help.

"Professor, I could help you. If the authorities aren't getting the job done, I'm sure that my training in Unova's Military Academy can help me infiltrate and destroy their organization. All I'd need is Intel…"

" That's Intel that we don't have." Gold interrupted.

Gael gulped. He realized he was completely out of line.

"A source of mine informs me that Team Zeta's goal is to capture a pair of legendary Pokémon; Ho-Oh and Lugia." Prof. Gold continued, his gaze suddenly stern. "I trust my source, and the only way to stop them if they manage to do that is with Pokémon."

With that, the Professor placed the Poké Ball in Gael's right hand…

"Gael, I just sent a battalion of trainers into the wild; to train and get stronger, and defeat Team Zeta. I know you're not on the list, but I can see something in your eyes; something that makes me want to put my trust in you. Please, join us in our fight."

+ + +

Turning around to face Route 29 was a lot harder than Gael could have anticipated. His only means of defense against the wild was a Pokémon; he'd never been good at handling Pokémon.

After walking down Route 29 for close to two hours, Gael decides to park under the shade of a large tree to rest and eat lunch; he'd packed a sandwich for himself in the morning, as well as an assortment of energy bars.

There is a slight breeze that feels good against his skin, so Gael pours some water on his head for refreshment. The day is peaceful, and Gael's mind is full of nothing but confusion and possible regret.

His chewing slows down as he dwells on his reality; "What did I get into? Why did I volunteer for this, to fight a Pokémon gang? I don't think I can do this."

It's too much. Gael shakes his head and tries to think of something else, anything else. Quickly, he retrieves his Pokédex.

"Okay, let's see what's up…" he whispers to himself.

Prof. Gold had explained the mechanics of the Pokédex's interface; opening it was easy, reaching the menu was easy, but for some reason… "Huh? There's no data."

"… then you point it at a Pokémon like so, and voilà. The Pokédex automatically retrieves and displays any data on the Pokémon, not to mention that this data is constantly revised and amended through the use of your Pokédex."

"Of course…" Gael shakes his head remembering the professor's instructions. He reaches for the lone Poké Ball on his holster belt and presses its button, releasing a burst of white light that materializes into a blue-skinned Pokémon.

~ Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon; it takes time for its shell to form and harden after hatching. It can spray foam powerfully from its mouth. ~

"Well that's works…" Gael states flatly as he continues to poke on the machine.

Meanwhile, the curious Water-type by his feet decides to wander around. "Squirtle?" she blurts upon noticing a slight movement in the peripheral region of her field of vision.

She walks towards Gael's backpack upon noticing what appears to be a small Bug-type Pokémon? No, it can't be. It's just a bug, a small stinkbug, too little to be considered a worthwhile distraction.

Unimpressed, the blue Pokémon proceeds to pick the bug up and chuck it into her mouth. Suddenly, a horrid taste overwhelms her, and she shivers and spits before frantically looking for something to soothe her displeasure.

"Squirtle squirtle, squirt!" she protests, startling her trainer before diving into his backpack.

"… so Squirtle's moveset is – whoa! What the heck? Watch out!" Gael yells as he pulls the Tiny Turtle Pokémon feet first out of the backpack. The Pokémon holds a red handkerchief, and seems intent on scrubbing a layer of skin off of her tongue with it, however.

Gael wrestles the handkerchief away from his Pokémon, but in turn, she resorts to geophagy; kneeling down and licking the dirt on the floor.

"Oh. Did you eat something nasty?" Gael asks, more as an affirmation to himself rather than expecting an answer, before handing an energy bar to his Pokémon.

The gratitude is evident on Squirtle's face, but not so much on Gael, who is now holding his handkerchief, now soaking wet and muddy.

Squirtle watches her trainer drop the handkerchief to the floor before retrieving his things and picking up his backpack. "You ready to go back to your Poké Ba– "

The very sight of Squirtle interrupts Gael. She has done her best (not very good) to try and dust off the handkerchief, and is holding it out for her trainer to take it back.

"That's fine, thank you very much though." Gael says with a slight smile and motioning for his Pokémon to drop the thing, but Squirtle isn't taking it.

"Squirtle." She blurts out and steps forward, still offering the handkerchief.

This draws a chuckle from Gael. "Here," he says as he squats down toward Squirtle. "How about you keep it?" He offers, patting his Pokémon on the head.

Squirtle takes it. "Squirt" she says affirming as she chucks the handkerchief onto her back.

Gael laughs once more and ties a knot on the handkerchief around his Pokémon's neck. "There. Now you look like a true superhero." He says beaming, which draws a longing look from the Squirtle.

Gael takes a closer look. "It also makes your eyes kind of pop out. Hey! How would you like that to be your name? Amber."

"Squirtle!" Amber agrees ecstatically.

However, unbeknownst to Pokémon and trainer, a pair of eyes observes their moment from the underbrush of the Route…

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